John Menadue

John Menadue is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Pearls and Irritations. He was formerly Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser, Ambassador to Japan, Secretary of the Department of Immigration and CEO of Qantas.

John's recent articles

JOHN MENADUE-The Private Health Insurance industry is a scam subsidised by taxpayers.

For over fifteen years I have been pointing to the failure of PHI both in terms of efficiency and equity. Not once have the executives of major firms or their lobbyists joined in a public discussion. They prefer to strong-arm ministers and officials in private. Its a classic example of crony capitalism, using private influence to obtain public benefits. PHI is a scam.

RICHARD FLANAGAN. Scott Morrison and the big lie about climate change: does he think we're that stupid? (The Guardian, 24 November 2019)

Of all the horrors that might befall the burnt out, the flooded, the cyclone ravaged and the drought stricken Australian this summer, perhaps none could be viewed with more dread than turning from their devastated home to see advancing on them a bubble of media in which enwombed is our prime minister, Scott Morrison, arriving, as ever, too late with a cuddle.

GIDEON LEVY. No one in Israel knew they were committing a massacre, and they didn't care

The bomber pilot didnt know. His commanders who gave him the orders also didnt know. The defence minister and the commander in chief didnt know. Nor did the commander of the air force. The intelligence officers who aimed at the target didnt know. The army spokesman who lied without a qualm also didnt know.

JOHN WALLACE. Hong Kong research in 2013 warned of student violence

Research by social scientists at City University in Hong Kong in 2013 could help explain why in 2019 some young Hong Kong protesters have turned to violence in their anti-China campaign. This 2013 article by Dennis Chong of the South China Morning Post summarises the research findings.

MICHAEL CLARKE. Some Context on Xinjiang

Gregory Clark has claimed that we badly need more context on the situation in Xinjiang before criticising the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Clarks claim both ignores the weight of evidence as to the nature and scale of Beijings repression in Xinjiang and the implications of that repression

SAM JACOBS. Vaclav Havel: The Forgotten History of the Political Dissident Who Founded the Czech Republic

Our historical unsung heroes are generally impressive figures. But there are very few one might accurately call cool. This is an exception. Vclav Havel, the founder of the modern-day Czech Republic (also known as Czechia) is undoubtedly cool by any definition of the word.

DAVID MARR. Blood, brains and foul murder: evidence of Australia's massacres is in its newspapers (The Guardian, 17 November 2019)

Were only human. We hang on to lies that comfort us. A big consoling lie that still hangs around this history of slaughter and dispossession is that we cant apply the outlook of the 21st century to killings on the frontier. Tell that to those who denounced the crimes as they were being committed. Theirs was real time rage. It is a fitful war of extermination waged upon the blacks, something after the fashion which other settlers wage war upon noxious wild beasts, wrote Carl Feilberg, editor of the Queenslander in 1880.

MATTHEW FISHER. The Politics We Have The Politics We Need.

Neoliberalism has been a catalyst for an abysmal state of politics characterised by political gamesmanship played with issues of fundamental public interest and the rise of populist authoritarianism. The many groups working for a better future in Australia need to come together around some shared principles for political change.

YASMIN KHAN. The Raj at War: A Peoples History of Indias Second World War

Britain didn't fight the second world war -- the British empire did. Had it not been for the empire, Britain might have lost the second world war, says William Dalrymple. The war certainly lost Britain the empire.

PERCY ALLAN. Latest Research shows Australia still woeful at Policy Making.

For the second year running, independent research by two philosophically opposed Right and Left think tanks finds that public policy making at federal and state levels is rarely evidence and consultative based. Unlike last year, none of the 20 case studies this year got close to a perfect score of 10. Only four case studies got a sound score of 8 or 8.5. Sadly eight case studies got rated below 5.0.

ALI ABUNIMAH. EUs top court upholds right to boycott Israeli settlement goods (the Electronic Intifada, 12 November 2019)

EUs top court rules that consumers have a right to know if goods they buy come from Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land in violation of international law. The European Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday that goods from Israeli colonies on occupied Palestinian land must be labeled as originating from settlements.

GREGORY CLARK- WE badly need some context on Xinjiang.

Australian Foreign Minister, Marise Payne: I have previously raised Australias strong concerns about reports of mass detentions of Uighurs in Xinjiang. These disturbing reports today reinforce Australias view and we reiterate those concerns.Australian politicians have traditionally had a hard time making up their minds over Chinas distant Xinjiang province.

PAUL KEATING. Australia's security agencies and 'pious' media lead the anti-China rhetoric

Former PM Paul Keating has accused institutions of failing to grasp the magnitude of shifting power in the Asia Pacific and has warned Australias approach to China has been supplanted by the phobias of security agencies and the hysteria of pious and do-gooder journalists.

DAVID MORE. The #myHealthRecord Is A Major Failure Following A Long List Of Other Major System Failures From The Federal Government Over The Years.

I very recently conducted a poll on my blog following the latest over-done propaganda outburst from the Australian Digital Health Authority (ADHA) in their recent Annual Report. Here is what is showed.

SAEB EREKAT. Don't Label Israeli Settlement Products. Ban Them (14-11-19)

There is nothing ethical in trading in products made with stolen natural resources on stolen land. There can be no meaningful peace process that normalizes war crimes and violations of international law.

KATE LAPPIN and MICHELLE HIGELIN. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership spells danger for 1.1 billion women.

Australia is about to sign on to a new mega-trade agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). But what does this mean for the rights of 1.1 billion women and girls who live in the 15 countries involved in the deal?

COLIN MENDELSOHN. Vaping, babies and bathwater. Why Australias vaping ban is poor policy.

Australia is the only western democracy to ban the sale and use of nicotine for vaping. Australian policy is out of step with the scientific evidence and denies smokers who cant quit a safer and potentially lifesaving alternative. There are better policy options available.

ROB STEWART. Everything but the Elephant - Labor s Election Campaign Report

Labor has taken Government from Conservatives only 3 times in the past 70 years. It must start representing those who have no effective power the majority if it wants to be taken seriously.

DIMITRI TRENIN. Russias rise wont end with Syria (New York Times, 3 November 2019)

Get used to it, because Russian influence is coming to a region near you. For many in the West, Russias return to the world stage over the past few years has come as a surprise, and not an especially pleasant one. After the downfall of the Soviet Union, the country was written off as yesterdays snow, a regional power, a filling station masquerading as a state.

SALMAN KHURSHID. Ayodhya verdict nudges us to look back at how much we have lost over years of conflict (The Indian Express 11-11-19)

The greatest opportunity that the judgment offers is a reaffirmation of India as a secular society. It is a decision that refutes the idea of Hindu Rashtra and amplifies the practical handling of sensitive religious concerns in a secular system.

JACK SHAMASH.The Labour Party's antisemitism problem might lie in a simple clash of identities (The Independent UK, 03 November 2019)

After a show of hands in my north London synagogue, I started to wonder if this rolling row had its roots in how both groups define themselves Its not easy to make sense of the current furore about antisemitism and the left. But it may be that a fundamental part of the explanation is quite simple.

LESLEY HUGHES. If not now, when?

We dont need name calling. But we do need to talk about climate change and bushfires.

FIRE CHIEFS pull the rug from under climate change deniers.

Commenting on the 2017 Las Vegas shooting that killed 60 people and injured more than 400, the US National Rifle Association said 'This sort of response isn't helpful. Families are mourning. Offer a prayer and temper your desire of politics...' It sounds just like the response of the Prime Minister and Coalition Ministers to the recent bush fires. But former senior fire chiefs in their Emergency Leaders for Climate Action decided not to put up any longer with political evasion on the link between the' urgent threat' of climate change and the escalating bush fire risk. Hear what they had...

REBECCA THOMAS. Disability scheme housing should be more responsive to need

Despite Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) payments having been rolled out initially in 2016, with good intentions, the level of suitable disability accommodation in Australia is still woefully low. The approval process for individuals to get SDA into their NDIS plans has been slow, inconsistent and not transparent. Even the eligibility criteria are unclear.

TRENT PENMAN, KATE PARKINS, SARAH McCOLL-GAUSDEN. A surprising answer to a hot question: controlled burns often fail to slow a bushfire (The Conversation 15-11-19)

As sure as night follows day, this weeks bushfires prompted inevitable debate about whether fire authorities should have carried out more hazard reduction burning, and whether opposition from conservationists prevented this.

ANTHONY FORSYTH. No, a complex system is not to blame for corporate wage theft (The Conversation 11-11-19)

Is Australias award system so complex major corporations capable of handling millions of customers and billions of dollars cant manage to pay employees properly?

GEORGE MONBIOT. The Unlearning (The Guardian 7-11-19)

There are two stark facts about British politics. The first is that they are controlled, to a degree unparalleled in any other Western European nation, by a tiny, unrepresentative elite. Like almost every aspect of public life here, government is dominated by people educated first at private schools, then at either Oxford or Cambridge.

ASSAF SHARON. The Long Paralysis of the Israeli Left (New York Review of Books, 7 November 2019)

The Israeli political system is in a weird stalemate. Two general elections in under six months have so far failed to produce a governing coalition. The sticking point is entirely personalthe fate of Bejamin Netanyahu as he faces multiple criminal indictments. After more than ten years in office, Netanyahu continues to dominate Israeli politics.

DAVID ROWE. Pocketing science but offering thoughts and prayers. (AFR 11.11.2019)

HANS J OHFF. Submarines and how not to defend Australia

The Governments new submarine project continues to be subjected to serious criticism. I have written on the ill-conceived SEA 1000 project since before the decision was made to award the contract to the French company NAVAL Group Australia (formerly DCNS) in April 2016. I now argue that we must face up to the underlying issue, which is that the two critical decisions, to buy sub-optimal diesel-electric boats, and to design them for missions off the coast of China, are fundamentally incompatible.

RICHARD TANTER. Pine Gap history-dogged by censorship and dereliction of duty.

On 1st January this year, the National Archives of Australia published a set of highly redacted Commonwealth cabinet papers dealing with a decision by the National Security Committee of the Howard coalition cabinet in September 1997 to allow the establishment of a Joint Australia-United States Relay Ground Station (RGS) at Pine Gap.

DEAN BAKER. Mark Zuckerberg is a Rich Jerk (Counter Punch 5-11-19)

Last week, New York Times columnist Timothy Egan had a piece headlined Why Doesnt Mark Zuckerberg Get It? The piece then goes on to document how Facebook has become a medium for spreading lies and nonsense all over the world, that many ill-informed users have come to believe.

J. A. DICK. Political Religion and the Prosperity Gospel

Re-reading a bit of political philosophy, I came across a 1939 quotation by the French philosopher Raymond Aron (1905-1983) who warned of notre poque de religions politiques. If Aron were around today, he would have much to wrote about.

PETER BAUME. Our current drug policy is insane.

There is, in front of me, a book entitled Not my family: never my child. The title of that book is so right. WE are on the front line. We are affected. It is OUR families and our children who take these drugs. It is OUR children that suffer and die and cause us grief.

GREGORY CLARK- APEC on the chopping block ( Asia Times November 5, 2019)

For old-time Asia watchers, there was a delicious irony in the way Chile has decided it does not want to be the site of this years planned APEC annual meeting.

CSAR RODRGUEZ GARAVITO. The Solution to the Climate Crisis

Homo sapiens suffers from a cognitive defect in that we have evolved to deal with immediate and concrete threats, but not ones that happen to us slowly over time, like climate change. Those with Asperger's syndrome see the world differently, and it is interesting to think that the rest of us might have to learn something from people disabled and often mocked.

ASSOCIATED PRESS-Europe looking to China as global partner, shunning Donald Trumps US ( 7 November 2019)

When Frances president wants to carry European concerns to the world stage to find solutions for climate change, trade tensions or Irans nuclear ambitions, he no longer calls Washington. He flies to Beijing.

LIN CRASE. Australias drought relief package hits the political spot but misses the bigger point (The Conversation 7-11-19)

There are two basic components to the Morrison governments latest A$1 billion package response to the drought affecting large parts eastern Australia. One part involves extra subsidies to farmers and farm-related business. The other involves measures to create or upgrade infrastructure in rural areas.

MEREDITH BURGMANN. No Black Man ...

A bunch of decrepit old Australians had a particular interest in South Africa's astonishing win at the World Cup in Yokohama last week. As a delighted and inspirational black captain, Siya Kolisi raised the Webb Ellis trophy high in victory, some of us had teary eyes. We are some of the survivors of a bunch of Australians who almost 50 years ago were heavily involved in the 1971 anti-Springbok campaign.

MAX COSTELLO. Whos right about Medevac airlifts to Australia the doctors or Peter Dutton?

The governments traditional scare campaign having failed to work because Medevac transfers have not re-started the people smuggler boats a very frustrated Home Affairs Minister Dutton is running a new repeal Medevac line: he says the Medevac law is a con because no transferees are in hospital. But its his own Australian Border Force that is keeping them out of hospital.

ALFRED M. WU. The failings of one country, two systems (East Asia Forum, 29 October 2019)

The one country, two systems framework is coming under increasing pressure as unprecedented protests and months of unrest rock Hong Kong. Sustaining local autonomy against the background of an increasingly assertive Chinese centre has become a progressively tricky issue.

DEAN BAKER. Mark Zuckerberg is a Rich Jerk (Counterpunch, 5 November 2019)

Last week, New York Times columnist Timothy Egan had a piece headlined Why Doesnt Mark Zuckerberg Get It? The piece then goes on to document how Facebook has become a medium for spreading lies and nonsense all over the world, that many ill-informed users have come to believe.

JOHN MENADUE. Democracy or oligarchy .

Our political contest used to be between Left and Right, Labor and Conservative. That has changed with growing anger that power is now rigged in favour of a largely unchallenged and powerful oligarchy. Our democratic system including our traditional parties are just not properly responding .Voters are fleeing the major parties and particularly Labor.

ANDREA HAMBLIN. More than 11,000 scientists endorse a global climate emergency declaration (New Daily, 06 November 2019)

The Australian parliament voted against it. But now 11,000 people who might know one or two more facts than a bubble of politicians have confirmed it is, indeed, happening: the whole world is in the midst of a climate emergency.

HAL PAWSON. The First Home Loan Deposit Scheme: Housing affordability action or just more busy work? (UNSW Blogs 31-10-19)

The Australian Government has this week revealed the policy details for the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme (FHLDS). From 1 January qualifying first home buyers (FHBs) become eligible for a government guarantee that will enable them to access a mortgage with a 5% deposit rather than the normal 20%, at no extra cost to the borrower.

GARRY WILLS. Changing the Changeless Church. A view of John O' Malley's 'When Bishops Meet: An Essay Comparing Trent, Vatican I , and Vatican II'

In John OMalleys When Bishops Meetthe latest of his five books on ecumenical church councilshe compares and contrasts what he has written on the three last councils and argues that there should be a new one.

TOM SWANN. Morrisons claim of an Australian gold in per capita renewables is not true (Renew Economy 27-10-19)

Despite promises to cut emissions, Australias emissions are still rising. But at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month, prime minister Scott Morrison rejected criticism by claiming that Australia now has the highest per capita investment in clean energy technologies of anywhere in the world.

J.A. DICK. Faith Development or Stunted growth.

Thinking about some well-known public personalities who, despite their age, are still rather adolescent in their beliefs and behaviour, I went back to James Fowlers understanding of faith development.

ROB STEWART. Labors Vision Thing: Jobs and the future of work. Really?

Anthony Albanese delivered his first major Vision Statement last Tuesday. However, after 6 months wait, the Statement is a disappointing, damp squib of a thing. I hope future Statements are moreum, visionary.

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